Oscae liebeeioh



Urarren States PATENT rates.

OSCAR LIEBREICH, OF BERLIN, GERMANY.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING SOAP.

('JPECEFICATIOE forming part of Letters Patent No. 308,968, dated December 9, 1884:.

Application tiled October 7. 1884.

(No specimens.) Patented in German Y A u-il 12 1884 No. 29,290; in En land April 17, lESI,

No. 6,472; in Belgium Apr-i126, 1884, No. 64,945, and in France April 26, 1184, X0. 161,756.

To a. whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Oscnn LIEBREIOH, a sub jeet of the King of Prussia and Emperor of Germany, and aresi dent of the city of Berlin, in the Kingdom of Prussia and German Empire, have invented certain Improvements in the Process for the lllanufacture of Soap, (for which I have obtained a patent in Germany, No. 29,290, dated April 12, 1884 a British patent, No. 6,472, dated April 17, 1884; a patent in Belgium, No. 64,945, dated April 26, 1884, and a French patent, No. 161,7 56, dated also April 26, 1884,) of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in the process for the manufacture of soapna1ne- 1y, hard soap-consisting, substantially, in the use of centrifugal force for the separation from the lye.

In the process now generally employed for the production of hard soap this is separated from the lye after the saltingprocess by drawing off the lye. The nucleus or hard soap thus obtained is then either cut out after cooling, or it is boiled down and run into molds. The product thus obtained is rendered more or less impure by the lye and salt remaining therein, the lye having, on account of its alkaline constituents, a detrimental. effect upon the fabrics treated therewith, as also 011 the colors thereof, while the salt diminishes the cleansing properties and consequently the value of the soap.

The present invention has for its object the production of a hard soap that shall be practically almostcompletely freed from the lyes, and that shall contain much less salt than ordinary curd, while at the same time a much harder and more neutral product is obtained, containing also less water (from twenty to twenty-live per cent.) than that obtained in the ordinary way.

In carrying out the improved process the soap, separated by salt by the known methods, and before its separation from the lye by co1nplete cooling has taken place, is introduced into a centrifugal machine driven at ahigh speed, and is subjected while in a heated condition to centrifugal action for a comparatively short time (from four to at most twenty minutes.)

The centrifugal apparatus can be of any suitable known construction that permits of the specifically heavier lye flowing off at the prop or place, while the soap is condensed by the centrifugal action either against the sides of the drum itself or in special molds or buckets, if a bucket centrifugal machine be employed. After being subjected to this centrifugal ac tion the soap is practically entirely freed from the lyes and contains only a small quantity of the salt, and a much smaller percentage of wa ter than is ordinarily the case, while the specilic density is greatly increased, the product being perfectly neutral.

The soap may, if necessary, be subject to a further cooling, which, however, would be of but short duration, either in the centrifugal machine itself, under the application of cold water, if necessary, or the molds or buckets or even the centrifugal drum itself can be removed for this purpose and be placed in a coolingchamber.

If the salting has been effected under a dilute condition of the lye, it might in some ases be of advantage to allow the soap to settle from the lye for a short time before the centrifugal action is applied, in order to have to remove a somewhat less quantity of liquid by such action.

The application of centrifugal action in the hot condition as described is also effective in those cases where according to the ordinary methods a complete separation of the soap is not possible or very difficult-as is the case, for instance, with the saponifi cation of cocoa untoil. \Vith this the separation of the soap by the existing methods is so difficult, (some soap-makers even assert that cocoauut-oil cannot be converted into hard soap at all,) and the separated product is so porous when effected at all, and so saturated with salt solution, that it is generally preferred to treat cocoanutoil together with other oils of which the soap is more easily separated. -With the centrifugal action, however, even the separation of cocoanut-oil soap can be perfectly effected,resulting in a hard neutral product free from lye and containing a low percentage of water.

As further advantages of the described pro cess may be mentioned, first, that the greater or less degree of concentration at which the salting is effected is without influence upon the product obtained, a product of uniform quality being obtainable by dueregulation of the duration of the centrifugal action; second, that in the cases which sometimes occur where the soap has a tendency to remain in the granular condition the centrifugal action nevertheless converts it into a solid compact'mass, thereby dispensing with repeated solution of the soap, which is otherwise necessary; third, that the entire separation requires much less time, so that for a large productiona considerable saving in cost is thus effected, in addition to the advantage of obtaining a better, harder, and

perfectly neutral product free from lye and containing less percentage of salt and of water. Having now described my invention and also the process for performing it,what Iclaim is- 20 scribing witnesses.

OSCAR LIEBREICH.

Witnesses:

MARC M. ROTTEN, B. R01. 

